The problem in washing baby-bottle parts, such as bottle rings, caps, and nipples, and infant cup (a.k.a., sippy cups) components in a dishwasher is that the parts are so relatively small and light. If simply positioned on a conventional dishwasher rack, or in an open utensil basket, they would tend to be dislodged and bounce around during the washing, rinsing and drying cycles, thus creating the likelihood of damage to dishes, glasses, the bottle and cup components, and even to the dishwasher itself. Even if undamaged, the parts are less likely to be properly cleaned in a situation where they are allowed to travel about during the dishwashing cycles.
In order to overcome this problem, special racks or baskets have been provided for receiving such bottle and cup parts and for maintaining them segregated from other articles that may be in the dishwasher. At the same time, such baskets prevent the parts from flying about in the dishwasher and causing possible damage to the dishwasher. Multi-compartmented baskets soon came along which allowed segregation of these small components.
Considering that the basket needed to fit within a standard dishwasher, the foot-print size of the basket was important. Too big and valuable dishwasher space would be lost, but too small might inhibit the securing of all the necessary bottle and cup components.
The present invention has provided a solution to each of these problems. By providing a multi-compartmented dishwasher basket with a minimized footprint, but sufficient storage capacity to handle components from baby bottles and infant cups together. There is disclosed herein an improved dishwasher basket which avoids the disadvantages of prior devices while affording additional structural and operating advantages.